Illini host MAC’s Ball State in opener

Illinois, there’s no reason to not start out hot. Or is there? Time for week one actions….

Illinois is (1-0) all-time against the Ball State Cardinals. There last (and only) meeting was in 2007, Illinois won 28-17 at Memorial Stadium. Ball State is (3-36-1) against teams in the Big Ten. All three wins have come against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington -or- Indianapolis.

Not to start the season being over confident about the Illini or to appear condescending, but we all know there’s still work to be done on an inconsistent offense from last season, and the defense that needs fine tuning.

This week, Mike Neu’s Ball State Cardinals will travel to Champaign to open their season with the Fighting Illini. The MAC West’s worst team a year ago, Ball State comes into the 2017 campaign after posting a 4-8 record last season. While that’s not anything to brag about, it should be noted that 4 of the 8 losses the Cardinals had were by 7 points or less (2 were by 3 points or less).

The Ball State offense creates big holes to roll through, and that’s not a plus for an Illinois defense needing to overcome the loss of all four starters up front. They can flat out run the football and having a quarterback as mobile as Riley Neal makes that an easier feat to overcome. Neal was the third best rushing QB in the MAC, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, totaling 543 yards, and scoring 8 touchdowns. In the backfield is James Gilbert, who ran for 1332 yards (3rd in MAC) averaging 5.3 yards per carry (8th in MAC) and 12 touchdowns (T1st in MAC) in 2016. If there’s one thing that Illinois needs to defend against on Saturday, it’s the run.

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On contrast, Illinois did not defend against the run well last season. Ranked 103rd in the nation in average rushing yards surrendered (219.2 yds/g), Ball State’s experienced rushing attack will cause some problems for the Illini on Saturday. The good news though, is that Illinois has a new JUCO transfer starting at linebacker in Del’Shawn Phillips. We will see how Hardy Nickerson will have his defense prepared to handle the Cardinal run-game…

In short, the Illini must win this opener against Ball State but as we know, it will not be easy. The Cardinals will be a tough competitor who will not lay down and surrender. With Western Kentucky and a trip to South Florida up next, nothing is given to this Illini team and they must show up and play four quarters.

BIG Ten Week 1 Kickoff…

It’s that time… BIG TEN Football time!!!! Who will snag an opening day victory?

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Big game going on in Arlington, Texas as Michigan takes on Florida (Arlington, Texas). Coming into this game Wolverines have won all three match-ups, including a 41-7 victory in the last encounter in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl after the 2015 season—Harbaugh’s first at Michigan.

Then there’s Akron vs. Penn State… aka Best head coach match-up

A BIG TEN early contest features a clash of coordinators featuring Indiana vs Ohio State.

Purdue host Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium. In this game, be sure to keep an eye out for David Blough, who injured his shoulder early in camp but is said to be okay, and early Heisman favorite, Lamar Jackson.

Other notable contest….
Buffalo at Minnesota (Thursday)
Washington at Rutgers (Friday)
Utah State at Wisconsin (Friday)Ball State at Illinois*
Wyoming at Iowa
Maryland at Texas
Nevada at Northwestern
Bowling Green at Michigan State
Arkansas State at Nebraska
Akron at Penn State

* we will be LIVE at this game.

WEEK 1 NOTES PROVIDED BY THE BIG TEN Few schools have a more daunting opener than Maryland, which plays at Texas. Yes, the Longhorns have struggled in recent years, going 16-21 the last three seasons and missing the postseason each of the last two years. But the Longhorns have a new coach in former Ohio State OC Tom Herman, who went 22-4 the last two years at Houston. And UT always has talent … lots of talent. The Terps are 0-3 all-time vs. Texas, last playing in 1978 in the Sun Bowl. Maryland last was in Austin in 1959. Interesting fact: The Terrapins have been shutout in each of their three meetings vs. UT, losing by a combined 102-0.

Like Maryland, Rutgers also faces a big task in Week 1 with Washington coming to Piscataway for a Friday night affair. The Scarlet Knights got an up-close look at the Huskies last year, losing 48-13 in Seattle as U-Dub went on to earn a playoff bid. Chris Petersen will have another good team in 2017 led by Heisman contending QB Jake Browning.

Purdue will travel south on I-65 while Louisville will travel north on I-65 and they will meet in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Good storylines here. It’s the debut of new Boiler coach and Louisville native son Jeff Brohm, who was a former star U of L signal-caller who also once was an assistant to Cardinal coach Bobby Petrino.

Speaking of debuts, P.J. Fleck will make his at Minnesota vs. Buffalo on Thursday. The hype and mojo around Fleck’s start has been building for months. Get out your oar and row along as the Gophers take on Buffalo. The Bulls are coached by Lance Leipold, who won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater before landing the Buffalo job in 2015.

The opening week also includes a rare Big Ten contest, as Ohio State visits Indiana on Thursday night. The Buckeyes have dominated this series. Indiana went 2-1-1 vs. the Buckeyes from 1987-90, including a victory in Columbus in 1987. Since then, the Hoosiers have lost 22 in a row to the Buckeyes. This is a big bite for new IU coach Tom Allen in his first game as head coach in Bloomington. This will mark the first time in 41 years that Ohio State will open against a Big Ten foe (1976 vs. Michigan State) and it will be the first time in 42 years the Buckeyes will open on the road vs. a Big Ten opponent (1975 vs. Michigan State).

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What’s in store for the BIG TEN?

A year ago at this time, 32 out of 39 Big Ten Conference media members in a Cleveland.com poll predicted that Iowa would win the league’s West Division. Hhhhm…. wonder how they feel about that now?

Then in the East Division, 31 of 39 picked Ohio State to rule the roost. Whoops!

Well, here comes our predictions. So if we misfire with our world-famous pick of Ohio State over Minnesota in the championship, don’t laugh (until December 3).

In all seriousness, Wisconsin is the odds-on favorite to beat out the likes of Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern and Minnesota. Now in the East, I’m hesitating to go against conventional wisdom and beloved Buckeyes. There’s some left over for Penn State, last year’s surprising league champion that brings just about everyone back. In the end, when all of the smoke clears, I’m going with the BIG Blue… as they will snap a five-game losing streak in the Ohio State series, winning an East tiebreaker for a berth in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.

By the end of the season, the inexperienced Wolverines should be peaking. And they’ll win a rematch of their Nov. 18 game against Wisconsin at Lucas Oil Stadium and represent the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff.

IHSA Week 1 Recap…

What a solid weekend of high school football and we were on the sidelines for many excellent games….

Olympians have a strong showing…

OLYMPIA FIELDS: After a slow start, the Rich Central got things going and never let up as they defeated Thornwood 38-0.

First quarter of the game was full of jitters as both teams turnover the ball and couldn’t get started. The Olympians scored on a 22 yard run by junior tailback Michael Joshua. Joshua would score again late in the fourth quarter.

On the night, it was senior Jyran Mitchell, Northern Illinois-recruit, who guided the ship for the Olympians. Mr. Mitchell scored on three separate occasions: 58 yard run; 42 yard pass to Dionlashon Washington; and a 61 yard run late in the third quarter.

Rich Central dominated not only the scoreboard but all of the positive statistics in the contest including 483 total offense to 166.

Sean Tyler also reached the endzone on a 5 yard run in the third quarter.

A bright spot for Thornwood was the play of Peerless Jackson, 13 for 39; and Christian Simmon 6 for 8 for 73

Up next for Rich Central will be a repeat battle against St. Rita next Friday night in Chicago.

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2017 Battle of Pulaski goes to….

CHICAGO: In this years edition of the Battle of Pulaski, Marist came out on top 23-14 behind the strong defense of the RedHawks and defensive lineman Gavin McCabe. He finished with ten tackles, four for a loss.

Each of those big plays were especially key since the RedHawks were suffering through a strange mass-cramping incident.

In the third quarter there were at least eight players getting cramps worked out on the Marist sideline.

“It was crazy,” McCabe said. “I drank about seven coconut waters, that’s what the tell us to do. And I started cramping up at the end. At one point I think we had three of our starting wide receivers out. That’s something we are going to have to check out and make sure it doesn’t happen next week.”

Marist sealed the win by tackling Brother Rice quarterback Evan Sullivan for a safety with 4:50 left in the game. Linebacker Colin Bohanek, a sophomore, made the tackle. McCabe and Danny Meehan helped provide the pressure.

Offensively, Marist junior Billy Skalitzky sprinted down the field for 66 yards score which game them the lead. On the very next possession the Crusaders fumbled the snap punting and Kendric Nowling fell on the ball for the touchdown, 14-0 in the first quarter.

St. Rita wins at Soldier Field

CHICAGO: Chris Childers made his debut as St. Rita’s No. 1 running back an impressive one Friday in the Mustangs’ 49-21 victory over St. Patrick at Soldier Field.

The 6-foot, 200-pound senior rushed 17 times for 89 yards and three touchdowns. The scores were from 1, 2 and 2 yards out.
“I worked really hard in the offseason,” Childers said. “But it was all about during the summer going out to the field with the team and getting extra work in. We all really prepared for this.

“I felt great. It’s always good to get back out there. Me and the team were really excited for this. I knew we were going to perform very well.”

It’s almost that time….

As summer break is coming to an end and students across the country are dreading heading back into the classroom, but thousands are sweating and preparing for the upcoming fall gladiator sport – Football. Even though it’s being reported that the numbers are down, many people will be gathering in the stands on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. This month, we will take a peak at this topic plus more…..

The National Federation of State High School Associations released its annual participation numbers and they are not good…. Click here for more!

Are kids NOT playing high school football anymore?

The National Federation of State High School Associations released its annual participation numbers and the news isn’t good especailly for high school football around the country.

Almost 26,000 fewer students played football in 2016-17 than in 2015-16. Football is still the top sport in overall participation, with more than 1 million students playing.

In Illinois alone, football is in the midst of a nine-year decline in participation. In 2008, 51,334 students played football. There were 42,682 students playing football in Illinois in 2016-17.

“While we are concerned when any sport experiences a decline in participation, the numbers do not substantiate that schools are dropping the sport of football,” NFHS Executive Director Bob Gardner said in a statement. “The NFHS and its member state high school associations have worked hard to reduce the risk of injury in high school football, and we are pleased at the continued strength of the sport across the country.”

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Overall, high school sports are stronger than ever. Almost eight million students participated in sports in 2016-17, an all-time high. The fastest growing boys sport is soccer, which added nearly 10,000 players last year.

Texas (834,558) and California (800,634) had the most high school athletes, followed by New York (367,849), Illinois (341,387), Ohio (340,146), Pennsylvania (319,153), Florida (310,567), Michigan (295,647), New Jersey (283,655) and Minnesota (239,289).

Young football players are nearly twice as likely to sustain a concussion as upper classmen, or college players, yet it “remains unclear.”